Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Ready Steady Crook: Fake Chef Faces Jail

A bogus celebrity chef who claimed to have flushed Jamie Oliver’s head down the toilet as a kitchen prank is facing jail after admitting a string of gastro-pub frauds.

Kenny Goldsmith faked his credentials by claiming to have worked with some of the cheffing industry’s biggest names.

And he appeared on UKTV Food after boasting of working with Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Ken Hom, taking viewers through his "simple but tasty" meal of beef brochettes served with mustard garlic cream.

But he had actually honed his knife skills – not at the foot of the Greats, but in a prison kitchen. And he had never worked with Ramsay and Hom or won a Michelin star. Or for that matter helped train Oliver – or , sadly, bogwashed the Naked Chef star as a "prank".

Oliver and Ramsay were asked to give statements to police during the fraud inquiry - and confirmed they had never met him.

A UKTV spokeswoman said the channel was now washing its hands of the chef following his appearance on Great Food Live.

“As part of that appearance, his recipe was uploaded on to uktvfood.co.uk. We will now remove the recipe from the website (they have),” she said.

His lies were finally exposed after he left a trail of bounced cheques and bad debts, cheating unsuspecting gastropub owners out of a total of £120,000.

At one pub, the St Vincent Arms in Norton Disney, Lincs, he even ran up a £4,000 bill for a helicopter trip to a food festival in London.

He is now behind bars, facing a lengthy jail-term after appearing before Lincoln Crown Court to admit a string of fraud charges.

Goldsmith, 39, cooked up an elaborate story of how his love of fine dining developed at an early age.

It was the usual sleb chef rites-of-passage-guff that the punters lap up. According to his website, his journey was inspired by his grandmother and the "traditional, homely food" she served.

"She was well travelled and had an in-depth knowledge of international cuisine. She shared her passion for good food with Kenny,” it gushed.

"She encouraged him to learn and cook alongside her, and her enthusiasm created a longing that ultimately led him to a career as a chef.”

He also boasted of having been crowned Seafood Chef of the Year in 2000and said he was the holder of a Michelin star and ran the European Cooking School, based at a French chateau.

In reality, however, he ran a dating agency in Grimsby, Lincs, with his partner Kirsty Emmans.

Goldsmith, from Winterton, near Scunthorpe, admitted 20 charges of fraud and two of theft. Emmans, 38, of Grimsby, admitted 11 fraud charges and one of theft.

Jamie Oliver was unavailable for comment on Goldsmith's claims of having trained him, and his outlandish boast that he’d once flushed his head down a toilet during a bout of horseplay.

He and Emmans will be sentenced later.

...Blimey, a chef with a worse reputation than Gordon Ramsay. But my favourite bit of all is the blurb for Goldsmith’s European Cooking School...

“Can you imagine what it is like to stay in a French Château which is an authentic Fourteenth century castle complete with moat, working drawbridge, arrow-slits and battlements? Can you imagine what it would be like to extend your cooking skills under the tutelage of a top British chef?”

The plug comes with a grinning mugshot of Kenny, his arms crammed full of delicious peppers and garlic presumably foraged from a nearby 14th century market, and is accompanied by his recipe for orange sorbet. Rather appropriate now he’s in the icebox.

I should point out in fairness to UKTV Food that although it may look the contrary, judging by the immense expense lavished on their programmes, they don't just let anyone on (God knows I've tried). But yes, I take your point.

You found what I failed to find, good all cached pages. Yes, it does look a bit of a pig's ear of a recipe, doesn't it. I've always been suspicious of cooks who use pepper strips in their recipes (no idea why).

Couldn't find his recipe for porridge though - maybe he hasn't written it yet.

The press print any old crap, i know this chef, he did know jamie oliver and cooked with him in Birmingham at the Good Food Show, i should know as i was doing the security that day and saw them in Jamie's Camper Van

From what i know he did have a cooking school and several high paid jobs within the industry

Like another of your comments shows no one checks anything and i take my hat off to him for showing these people for what they are. I just hope he managed to stick the money away somewhere for a rainy day

Kenny is a loveable rougue, I should know, as I was one of 4 Travel companies he worked 'briefly' for, during his 2 1/2 month foray in the Alps. While amusing and entertaining, let's not forget that there is still a live warrant for his arrest in France for having stolen a 4x4 from a vehicle leasing company as part of his many expliots which still remain unaccounted for.

I have known both ken and Kristy and they are not chefs, they are not hotel people, and maybe now ken will be able to lose a bit of weight if hes behind bars, but Ken who will apply your st tropez tan now! Glad Kristys kids were taken from her, maybe now they will have a chance at a good life.

As far as "blaming people that far him their money" goes... I didn't give him my money... I workedfor him and he paid me 2000 pounds in a dodgy cheque that bounced as soon as I got to England... Which left me in a foreign country with nothing.. As an employee o the European cooking school, I am glad he got his just deserts.. I had to end my overseas working holiday due to this experience.. And it looks to me like many other people endured alot worse, so if you haven't experienced his work first hand I say keep your opinions to yourself...... It's very easy to commet on things you have no experience of isn't it!

thanks guys for all the comments,since being imprisoned jamie and gordon have retracted there statements,and i have several interviews to hold in april when i am released,i have a book being released in april,as i cannot be seen to be making money while staying in on of HM luxury apartments by the sea,i work outside the jail as a chef full time,and prison life is better than working for large companies,i have sacks full of mail to reply back to , and would like to thank people for there support.

Top chef, top chap. You can't con an honest man (or woman). He took money that was readily handed over by the greedy and soon he'll be out. He's got a fantastic tale to tell and I suggest you read it if you wish to opine on these message boards.

kenny i hope your going to pay me for the mattress when you come out! its odd that a story i told kenny about flushing my nephews head jamie down the toilet , he makes people to believe that he`s done it to jamie oliver .The shed though is great , thankyou kenny , the food was ok too , me and the local vicar had all the food and drink that kenny left at the st vincent yum yum ...

You are full of shit and dont have a pot to piss in.You want the glam lifestyle of the rich and unfortunatly that is never gonna happen because you are so uneducated all you will ever be is a silly little conman.Well done on the book deal that is non existant!!!!If life is so great why do you feel the need to send death threats to Kristy just because she has left your fat conman arse??

The only richman you have any connection with is the gangsters that now want you 6ft under.

Donna FlanneryBest friend to Kristy Emmans which makes able to say I know your bullshit more than most!!!

In about 2001/2001 Kenny worked as a head chef at a small private hospital, he got caught out there in quick time, but conned one of the woman working there into selling up and investing her money in him!!!

About Alex Watts

Author of bestselling food and travel book Down And Out In South East Asia - an adventure story, spiked with a heavy dose of backpacker noir, through the eateries, street food stalls, and hazy bars of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Available as an eBook and a paperback.

It's the sequel to Down And Out In Padstow And London - a humorous account of the years I spent training as a chef, including stints at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and Rick Stein's kitchens in Cornwall. Available as an eBook and paperback.